Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Dashing Through the Snow

A New Year's Eve had become a New Year's Day about an hour before I left my friends' house and headed for home. It was very cold, and newly plowed snow had piled up. I turned on my car radio as I turned off the main road. A broadcast by Elder Laseere Bradley was playing as I realized I had made a mistake in turning onto the unplowed shortcut.

I left Elder Bradley on as I drove through the snow around a lake through a deserted park. Bradley was preaching in a pleading manner, as if he was talking to me. He talked about the much hated doctrine of predestination.

My old car was the worst snow car I have ever driven, and my almost bald tires skewed me around as I plowed through the snow. I was afraid to stop and get stuck, so I kept going, swerving wildly as I negotiated the curvy road. All this time I listened to the old time voice of the preacher.

He was an Independent Baptist and what many would call a five point Calvinist. I was a student of the Bible, yet still an Arminian. But Bradley had hold of me. Though contrary to my beliefs, his logic and references to the scriptures was unassailable. He had an accent that appealed to me. Half of my family descended from such people, though they are disappearing.

At first I was skeptical. His message was new to me--God has chosen us, before we were born, to be his people. As Jacob was chosen before he wrestled with the angel, my name was already on God's list of the elect, before I was born. Nothing could be so radical.

My car finally broke through the unplowed side road onto the main highway once again. But something had occurred to me. Almost like realizing you are in love. My crazy trip was over and I was safe. But in that short passage I had matured in my doctrine and there was no going back.

I have a sermon by Elder Bradley on a cassette. It sounds like so long ago and I guess it was. He is still my favorite preacher. That night, in the snow, he did so much for me.

Dear Jane. Thank you for nominating me for the Liebster Blog Award. I should have responded to this and to your most welcome comments earlier, but I do not know how my blog works. John enters my posts for me. I really appreciate all you have said. Gerald

Dedication

About

Welcome. My name is Kymber and I have had the incredible good fortune to meet a new friend, The Last Robin.
We met through some funny circumstances over email and instantly became friends. We shared a bit about ourselves with each other and he also shared many of his stories. I was profoundly touched by his clear and elegant writing style, and also by the way he expressed complex ideas in such a simple manner. I knew that these stories needed to be shared with others!
I encouraged him to start a blog. He needed a bit of a push and a little more encouragement before finally agreeing to post all of his beautiful stories, his thoughts, ideas and musings. Trust me - he is a prolific writer AND has many, many ideas.
I hope that all of you who stop here will:
- appreciate the amount of time that The Last Robin has spent over the years writing his stories.
- come away after reading his stories and musings with a question or two in your hearts and minds with a different perspective.
- be as touched by his stories as I was after I first read some of them.
It gives me great honour and pleasure to introduce my friend, my Dear Uncle, The Last Robin.
Thank you to all who stop by!